Eight Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do with Human Sperm — io9 [27 August, 2012] Sperm are single-purposed: They're optimized to get to an egg and inseminate it. But that doesn't mean there isn't more to this cell than meets the ovum. Sperm, along with its travelling companion, semen, are surprisingly versatile and adaptable substances. Here are eight unconventional things you can do with human sperm.

The Fanciful Ways to Prevent Rape-Pregnancy — The Economist [23 August, 2012]My middle-school health teacher didn't teach me that rape generates its own birth control, so I was flabbergasted to hear Todd Akin, a Republican Senate contender from Missouri, air his theory that women who are raped won't get pregnant because "the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down" in the event of a coercive coupling. My second reaction, after "that's completely idiotic!", was "what is the mechanism supposed to be!?" Here's what I found.

Are People with Autism More Likely to Be Atheists? — The Huffington Post [1 June, 2012]In most religions and arguably anything worth being called a religion, God is not just an impersonal force or creator. He has a mind that humans can relate to. Maybe you're not gossiping on the phone with him late at night, but he has personality traits, thoughts, moods, and ways of communicating with you. If you didn't know what a mind was or how it worked, not only would you not understand people, but you would not understand God, and you would not be religious.